Nice set up! Yeah, it arrived on Thursday and it has singlehandedly cured my burning drive to upgrade my cans! They ALL have been given a new lease of life! That's coming from an Asus Essence STX.
Guys anyone using high impedance headphones straight out of their microstreamer? I'm in the middle of moving, and had to pack away my main amp and dac.
Have been using my headphones straight out of the uS last few days after having been kept in the draw for a couple of months.
I'm always surprised when I come back to the uS of how it handles ... dare I say... even the T1??!?!? Also the HD650. I've stated this before in the thread, and I've tried to find faults with the sound. But no I'm very happy with the sound. I thought the audio technicas were brighter with the uS, but having spent decent amount of time with this setup, I definitely don't think it's the case.
My T90 are 250 and they sound great straight from the uS hp out. No complaints. I'm only upgrading to the GO 1000 in hopes of a bigger soundstage; otherwise the uS does everything I need, and it's plenty spacious on its own.
Guys anyone using high impedance headphones straight out of their microstreamer? I'm in the middle of moving, and had to pack away my main amp and dac.
Have been using my headphones straight out of the uS last few days after having been kept in the draw for a couple of months.
I'm always surprised when I come back to the uS of how it handles ... dare I say... even the T1??!?!? Also the HD650. I've stated this before in the thread, and I've tried to find faults with the sound. But no I'm very happy with the sound. I thought the audio technicas were brighter with the uS, but having spent decent amount of time with this setup, I definitely don't think it's the case.
The headphone amplifier in the microStreamer, unlike that in many of its competitors, has a very low output impedance (.5 Ohms) and a moderately high output voltage swing capability due to its charge pump bi-polar power supplies. This allows it to work well with both low impedance headphones without having ill defined and bloated bass that can occur with amplifiers that have too high of an output impedance and with its higher than typical voltage swing, to provide adequate SPL with higher impedance loads. Another point worth clarifying is that the line output is from a completely different analog path and bypasses both the digitally controlled analog attenuator and headphone amplifier making it a'true' line output.
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC
... Another point worth clarifying is that the line output is from a completely different analog path and bypasses both the digitally controlled analog attenuator and headphone amplifier making it a'true' line output.
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC
The microStreamer, despite its small size has both a headphone and a line output paths. Each is optimized for the task (as opposed to being compromised and combined). I suspect that it will work well for your home application too, but do let us know how it works out for you.
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC
PS Congratulations on being the 1000th post to this thread!
My T90 are 250 and they sound great straight from the uS hp out. No complaints. I'm only upgrading to the GO 1000 in hopes of a bigger soundstage; otherwise the uS does everything I need, and it's plenty spacious on its own.
The headphone amplifier in the microStreamer, unlike that in many of its competitors, has a very low output impedance (.5 Ohms) and a moderately high output voltage swing capability due to its charge pump bi-polar power supplies. This allows it to work well with both low impedance headphones without having ill defined and bloated bass that can occur with amplifiers that have too high of an output impedance and with its higher than typical voltage swing, to provide adequate SPL with higher impedance loads. Another point worth clarifying is that the line output is from a completely different analog path and bypasses both the digitally controlled analog attenuator and headphone amplifier making it a'true' line output.
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC
The low output impedance was definitely something that attracted me to the uS. Flexibility of being able to use it with low impedance headphones is something I always consider with amps.
I remember you were considering beyer headphones earlier in this thread. I presume you're enjoying the T90s. Do you not use the Asgard anymore?
The low output impedance was definitely something that attracted me to the uS. Flexibility of being able to use it with low impedance headphones is something I always consider with amps.
The design of the headphone amplifier section of the microStreamer was to provide as great of flexibility and compatibility as possible. We were also very focused on making the performance as high as possible. We chose not to use a (cheaper) DAC with an integrated headphone amplifier, instead we choose a high performance differential output device, used actual active reconstruction filters, and a headphone amplifier with an analog attenuator (volume control). Hope it is working well with the headphone pairings you have used it with.
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC
I have been using the microstreamer with HD 600's and I have been very happy although maybe I don't know what I'm missing from not having a nice dedicated amp. Right now I'm good to go though.
I have been using the microstreamer with HD 600's and I have been very happy although maybe I don't know what I'm missing from not having a nice dedicated amp. Right now I'm good to go though.
I don't think you are 'missing' anything at all, the microStreamer's headphone amplifier is higher performance than most by a good margin. Certainly, the presence of an actual line output allows you to test with other amplifiers, but I suspect you will find that the combination is indeed a good pairing.
Kevin Halverson
CTO
High Resolution Technologies, LLC
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
